Buffer -n-: evinde, evinden, evine

The idea

When a case suffix follows the third-person possessive (-i/-ı/-u/-ü, after a vowel -si/-sı/-su/-sü, in the plural -leri/-ları), a buffer n goes between them: evi + de = evinde, kapısı + a = kapısına. The case suffix then follows its usual vowel harmony, and locative and ablative start with d after the voiced n: evinde, okulundan, kedisini, evinin.

Examples

• Annem şimdi evinde.My mother is at her house now.The possessive -i is followed by an n before the locative: ev-i-n-de. Without the possessive it would be evde, with no n.
• Ali her sabah okuluna yürüyor.Ali walks to his school every morning.
• Babam arkadaşından mektup alıyor.My father is getting a letter from his friend.
• Ayşe kedisini çok seviyor.Ayşe loves her cat very much.
• Senin evinde çay var.There is tea in your house.Here evinde is ev-in-de: -in means "your", so the n belongs to the possessive and nothing is inserted. The same letters also mean "in his house", where the n is the buffer; the pronoun senin or the context tells you which.
• evindein his or her houseev·i-i / -si: his, her, its·nBuffer -n-: evinde, evinden, evine·de-de / -da / -te / -ta: in, at, on
• kapısınato his or her doorkapı·sı-i / -si: his, her, its·nBuffer -n-: evinde, evinden, evine·a-e / -a / -ye / -ya: to, towards
• evlerindenfrom their housesev·ler-ler / -lar: the plural suffix·i-i / -si: his, her, its·nBuffer -n-: evinde, evinden, evine·den-den / -dan / -ten / -tan: from, out of
• kedisinihis or her cat (as the object)kedi·si-i / -si: his, her, its·nBuffer -n-: evinde, evinden, evine·i-i / -ı / -u / -ü: marking the definite object
• evimdein my houseev·im-im / -ım / -um / -üm / -m: my·de-de / -da / -te / -ta: in, at, on

Watch out

The n appears only after the third person. After evim (my house) and evimiz (our house) the case suffix attaches directly: evimde, evimizde, never evimnde. Do not drop it after "his" either: evide is wrong. Beware that evinde also means "in your house" (senin evinde), where the n belongs to -in.

Try it yourself

1. Add the locative to evi (his or her house): in his or her house.

   Show answer or example answer

   evinde

   evinde: evi already ends in a vowel, so a buffer n separates the possessive from the locative, which starts with d after the voiced n.

2. Add the dative to kapısı (his or her door): to his or her door.

   Show answer or example answer

   kapısına

   kapısına: after the vowel of kapı the possessive is -sı; the buffer n follows, and the dative takes a because of the back vowel ı.

3. Add the locative to evim (my house): in my house.

   Show answer or example answer

   evimde

   evimde: evim is the first-person possessive and ends in the consonant m, so -de attaches directly with no n.

4. Add the ablative to okulu (his or her school): from his or her school.

   Show answer or example answer

   okulundan

   okulundan: okulu ends in the possessive -u; after the buffer n the ablative is -dan (back vowel u, voiced n).

Use it today

Write four sentences about where a friend's things are (his house, bag, school and cat), each with a case suffix. Underline every n.